Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 32 / Thursday, February 15, 2024 / Notices 11843 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

National Institutes of Health 

Request for Information (RFI) To 

Inform Development of the FY 2026– 

2030 NIH Strategic Plan for HIV and 

HIV-Related Research 

AGENCY: National Institutes of Health, 

HHS. 

ACTION: Request for information. 

SUMMARY: Through this Request for 

Information (RFI), the Office of AIDS 

Research (OAR) in the Division of 

Program Coordination, Planning, and 

Strategic Initiatives (DPCPSI), National 

Institutes of Health (NIH), invites 

feedback from researchers, health care 

professionals, advocates and health 

advocacy organizations, scientific or 

professional organizations, federal/state/ 

local government agencies, community, 

and other interested constituents on the 

development of the fiscal year (FY) 

2026–2030 NIH Strategic Plan for HIV 

and HIV-Related Research (the Plan). 

The Plan (https://www.oar.nih.gov/sites/ 

default/files/NIH_StrategicPlan_

FY2021-2025.pdf) guides the NIH 

investment, building on scientific 

progress and opportunities for 

advancing HIV research toward an end 

to the pandemic. 

DATES: Send comments on or before 

April 1, 2024 to ensure consideration. 

ADDRESSES: Submissions must be 

submitted electronically via the 

following website: https://rfi.grants.nih.

gov/?s=65b25017cf031643470daad2. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Questions about this request for 

information should be directed to 

Rachel I. Anderson, Office of AIDS 

Research, 5601 Fishers Lane, Rockville, 

MD 20852, HIVstrategicplan@nih.gov, 

(301) 496–0357. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This 

notice is in accordance with the NIH 

Revitalization Act of 1993 that requires 

the Office of AIDS Research to develop 

a comprehensive plan, reviewed 

annually and revised as appropriate, 

that establishes HIV/AIDS research 

priorities and serves as a guiding 

framework for allocation of HIV/AIDS 

funding across NIH. This notice also 

complies with the 21st Century Cures 

Act, wherein NIH and its institutes, 

centers, and offices are required to 

regularly update their strategic plans. 

Background 

The most recent global statistics from 

the Joint United Nations Programme on 

HIV/AIDS (https://www.unaids.org/ 

sites/default/files/media_asset/ 

UNAIDS_FactSheet_en.pdf) estimate 

that in 2022, 39 million people were 

living with HIV, 1.3 million people 

acquired HIV, and 630,000 people died 

from AIDS-related illnesses. The Centers 

for Disease Control and Prevention 

(https://www.cdc.gov/hiv/statistics/ 

index.html) estimates that in the United 

States in 2021, 1.2 million people were 

living with HIV, with disparities by age, 

race, gender, and ethnicity. There were 

over 36,000 new HIV diagnoses 

documented in the U.S. in 2021, and an 

estimated 66% of people with 

diagnosed HIV achieved viral 

suppression. These statistics point to 

the need for expanded access and 

choice among current HIV prevention, 

testing, and treatment methods, as well 

as the need for an effective HIV vaccine 

and a scalable HIV cure. Global patterns 

of HIV epidemiology underscore the 

necessity for research and 

implementation strategies to address the 

intersectional nature of health 

disparities and social determinants of 

health. 

NIH OAR oversees and coordinates all 

HIV research activities across NIH, 

including both extramural and 

intramural research, research training, 

program evaluation, and HIV research 

infrastructure and capacity 

development. NIH supports a 

comprehensive portfolio of research 

representing a broad range of basic, 

clinical, behavioral, social, translational, 

and implementation science on HIV and 

associated coinfections and 

comorbidities. The Plan provides a 

framework for developing the NIH HIV 

research budget, articulates HIV 

research priorities, and provides 

information about NIH HIV research 

priorities to the scientific community, 

Congress, HIV-affected communities, 

and the public at large. 

Since 2015, the NIH HIV research 

portfolio has been framed according to 

five overarching priority areas (https:// 

grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/ 

NOT-OD-20-018.html): 1) Reduce the 

incidence of HIV; 2) Develop nextgeneration HIV therapies; 3) Conduct 

research toward HIV cure; 4) Address 

HIV-associated comorbidities, 

coinfections, and complications; and 5) 

Advance cross-cutting areas of research 

(including basic research, behavioral 

and social sciences research, health 

disparities, trainings, capacity-building 

and infrastructure). To capitalize on 

advances in HIV science that span 

multiple areas (e.g., the use of longacting injectable ART for both 

prevention and treatment) and to 

promote a multidisciplinary and 

integrative approach, OAR proposes a 

new framework based on the HIV 

research-to-practice continuum for 

priority setting. 

A New Framework for NIH HIV 

Research 

OAR is adopting a new framework for 

the next Strategic Plan (FY 2026–2030) 

that consists of four strategic goals: 

Goal 1. Enhance discovery and 

advance HIV science through 

fundamental research. 

Goal 2: Advance the development and 

assessment of novel interventions for 

HIV prevention, treatment, and cure. 

Goal 3: Optimize public health impact 

of HIV discoveries through translation, 

dissemination, and implementation of 

research findings. 

Goal 4: Build research workforce and 

infrastructure capacity to enhance 

sustainability of HIV scientific 

discovery. 

The Goals in this new framework are 

inclusive of scientific disciplines, 

individuals, communities, and 

populations—including women and 

minoritized populations experiencing 

health disparities. Within each Goal, 

specific funding priorities will be 

informed by public input. Priorities will 

be reviewed annually and updated as 

developments in science, the epidemic, 

funding, and/or policy emerge. 

The FY 2026–2030 Plan will be 

developed in accordance with the 

following foundational principles: 

• Research to identify and address 

HIV-related health disparities will be 

essential to ensure that the benefits of 

scientific advances reach all people and 

communities affected by HIV, including 

groups that have historically been 

underrepresented and underserved. 

• Research must address the unique 

needs of people with HIV across the 

lifespan, particularly as people, 

including those born with HIV, age with 

the virus. 

• Engagement and partnership with 

communities affected by HIV are 

essential at every stage of HIV research, 

from developing research questions and 

planning and conducting research to 

disseminating results and health 

information and implementing new 

practices. 

Information Requested 

Respondents are invited to propose 

research priorities within each Goal as 

described below. This feedback will 

assist in informing the FY 2026–2030 

Plan. Please note that response fields are 

limited to 200 words. Professional 

societies, advocacy organizations, and 

other groups are encouraged to submit 

a single collective response that reflects 

the views of their membership. 


khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES
11844 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 32 / Thursday, February 15, 2024 / Notices 

Goal 1: Enhance discovery and 

advance HIV science through 

fundamental research. 

Description: Fundamental research 

seeks to expand understanding of the 

biological, physiological, interpersonal, 

and social-structural mechanisms of 

HIV—i.e., how it operates as a virus and 

as an infectious disease pandemic—at 

the molecular, cellular, individual, 

community, and population level. This 

understanding provides the foundation 

for the development of safe, effective, 

and scalable tools to prevent, treat, and 

ultimately cure HIV infection, as well as 

reduce the risk and impact of comorbid 

conditions and co-occurring infections. 

Fundamental research includes 

theoretical, pre-clinical, and 

methodological research across 

scientific disciplines. 

Goal 2: Advance the development and 

assessment of novel interventions for 

HIV prevention, treatment, and cure. 

Description: Knowledge gleaned from 

fundamental, pre-clinical, and 

translational research to inform clinical 

trials and other intervention studies to 

test the most promising products, tools, 

or strategies for HIV prevention, 

treatment, and cure and management of 

its complications. Rigorous randomized 

control trials, observational studies, and 

other methodologies assess biological, 

behavioral, and social outcomes of 

novel interventions, as well as their 

feasibility, acceptability, effectiveness, 

and scalability in differing populations 

and across the lifespan. 

Goal 3: Optimize public health impact 

of HIV discoveries through translation, 

dissemination, and implementation of 

research findings. 

Description: As HIV prevention, 

treatment, and cure interventions are 

shown to be efficacious, their findings 

must be translated to inform practice 

and to connect with communities and 

the general public in order to maximize 

their public health impact. 

Implementation research can identify 

how best to facilitate effective 

adaptation, uptake, integration, and 

scale-up of evidence-based HIV 

interventions. Information-sharing 

through community partnerships, 

research collaborations, and 

dissemination activities can amplify the 

impact of research and promote health 

equity. 

Goal 4: Build research workforce and 

infrastructure capacity to enhance 

sustainability of HIV scientific 

discovery. 

Description: Continued progress in 

HIV science and its application requires 

robust support for research tools, 

computational resources, 

instrumentation, data and physical 

infrastructure, and workforce 

development, particularly in 

institutions that serve underrepresented 

or high HIV burden populations or that 

historically have been underfunded in 

the United States and globally. Such 

enhanced capacity-strengthening efforts 

will promote diversity and inclusion in 

the HIV research workforce. 

Respondents are also invited to share 

comments on the new framework. 

Responses to this RFI Notice are 

voluntary. The submitted information 

will be reviewed by NIH staff and may 

be made available to the public. 

Submitted information will not be 

considered confidential. This request is 

for information and planning purposes 

and should not be construed as a 

solicitation or as an obligation of the 

federal government or the NIH. No 

awards will be made based on responses 

to this Request for Information. The 

information submitted will be analyzed 

and may be used in reports or 

presentations. Those who respond are 

advised that the NIH is under no 

obligation to acknowledge receipt of 

your comments or provide comments on 

your submission. No proprietary, 

classified, confidential and/or sensitive 

information should be included in your 

response. The NIH and the government 

reserve the right to use any nonproprietary technical information in any 

future solicitation(s). 

Dated: February 5, 2024. 

Lawrence A. Tabak, 

Principal Deputy Director, National Institutes 

of Health. 

[FR Doc. 2024–03122 Filed 2–14–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4140–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

National Institutes of Health 

Office of the Secretary; Notice of 

Meeting 

Pursuant to section 1009 of the 

Federal Advisory Committee Act, as 

amended, notice is hereby given of a 

meeting of the Muscular Dystrophy 

Coordinating Committee (MDCC). 

The meeting will be held as a virtual 

meeting and will be open to the public 

as indicated below. Individuals who 

plan to view the virtual meeting and 

need special assistance or other 

reasonable accommodations to view the 

meeting, should notify the Contact 

Person listed below in advance of the 

meeting. The meeting can be accessed 

from the NIH Videocast at the following 

link: https://videocast.nih.gov/. 

Name of Committee: Muscular Dystrophy 

Coordinating Committee. 

Date: March 18, 2024. 

Time: 12:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET. 

Agenda: The purpose of this meeting is to 

bring together committee members, 

representing government agencies, patient 

advocacy groups, other voluntary health 

organizations, and patients and their families 

to update one another on progress relevant to 

the Action Plan for the Muscular Dystrophies 

and to coordinate activities and discuss gaps 

and opportunities leading to better 

understanding of the muscular dystrophies, 

advances in treatments, and improvements in 

patients’ and their families’ lives. The agenda 

for this meeting will be available on the 

MDCC website: https://www.mdcc.nih.gov/. 

Registration: To register, please go to: 

https://roseliassociates.zoomgov.com/ 

meeting/register/vJItc-6hrTsuHDKRDbVsTHLsMoFRuqyoRw#/registration. 

Webcast Live: https://videocast.nih.gov/. 

Place: National Institutes of Health, 

Neuroscience Center, 6001 Executive 

Boulevard, Rockville, MD 20852 (Virtual 

Meeting). 

Contact Person: Glen Nuckolls, Ph.D., 

Program Director, National Institute of 

Neurological, Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), 

NIH, 6001 Executive Blvd., Bethesda, MD 

20892, 301–496–5876, MDCC@nih.gov. 

Any interested person may file written 

comments with the committee by forwarding 

the statement to the Contact Person listed on 

this notice. The statement should include the 

name, address, telephone number and when 

applicable, the business or professional 

affiliation of the interested person. 

Anyone from the public can attend the 

meeting virtually via the NIH Videocasting 

website (https://videocast.nih.gov). Please 

continue checking these websites, in addition 

to the committee website listed below, for the 

most up to date guidance as the meeting date 

approaches. 

More information can be found on the 

Muscular Dystrophy Coordinating Committee 

website: https://mdcc.nih.gov/. 

Dated: February 9, 2024. 

Miguelina Perez, 

Program Analyst, Office of Federal Advisory 

Committee Policy. 

[FR Doc. 2024–03106 Filed 2–14–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4140–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

National Institutes of Health 

National Institute of Allergy and 

Infectious Diseases; Notice of Closed 

Meeting 

Pursuant to section 1009 of the 

Federal Advisory Committee Act, as 

amended, notice is hereby given of the 

following meeting. 

The meeting will be closed to the 

public in accordance with the 

provisions set forth in sections 

552b(c)(4) and 552b(c)(6), title 5 U.S.C., 


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